Most Shared Ads of July 2013: Could GEICO’s “Hump Day” Become The Most Shared Ad Of The Year?

For those who work, Wednesday is a cause for a mini celebration. Halfway through ‘the hump’ of the working week, you can almost taste the weekend.

However, US insurance company GEICO has a very special reason to celebrate Wednesdays. Its ad, ‘Hump Day’, featuring a talking camel, has enjoyed extraordinary success, attracting almost 2 million shares since its launch way back on May 22, making it not only last month’s most popular ad on the Unruly Global Ads Chart but the sixth most shared ad of 2013.

But there is something very special about GEICO’s latest video in The Martin Agency’s highly-successful ‘Happy Than A…” campaign which could mean it becoming the most shared ad of the year – possibly of all time.

Impossible, right? After all, the most shared ad of the year (so far) is Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches, which has double the shares of GEICO’s ad. As for becoming the most shared ad of all time, well, it would have to attract another 3.5 million shares to even have a chance to catching Volkswagen’s 2011 Super Bowl hit, The Force.

However, what sets GEICO’s ad apart from just about any other ad is when it attracts its shares. You see, unlike the vast majority of branded videos, which usually peak in the first few days and experience a rapid viral decay in the weeks that follow, the ad has attracted a huge spike in sharing activity every Wednesday since launch.

In fact, more than two-thirds (67.3%) of its shares occur on Wednesdays.

It means that while other ads’ shares have largely dried up, GEICO’s ad, which celebrates the feeling when you’re halfway through the working week, receives a welcome boost every single week.

Think of it like the hare and the tortoise, only this time it’s the talking camel that could well be crossing the finishing line ahead of its speedier rival.

You only need to look at this month’s Unruly Global Ads Chart to see what I mean. Sure, 2013’s biggest hits so far, Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches, Evian’s Baby&Me and Kmart’s Ship My Pants, still make it into July’s top 20, with around 250,000 shares between them. But GEICO’s Hump Day, launched just a month after the Big Three, attracted almost four times as many shares during the same month.

It has staying power in those knobbly knees, the only question for me is whether there is enough time left in the year for the camel to overtake.

The US insurer’s camel was not the only animal to attract a lot of attention last month. O2 bounded up the Unruly Viral Video Chart with their playful spot ‘Be More Dog’, which turns cat-dog dynamics on their head. A popular cat video on the internet, you say? Shocking!

As Beneful’s device paid tribute to Honda’s seminal ‘Cog’ ad, the car company produced their own fitting homage. ‘Hands’, a charming and visually stunning short, attracted 366,457 shares last month, pushing it to number 3 spot.

It’s the season of blockbuster trailers, but one videogame teaser managed to blow the competition out of the water. Within days of Rockstar Games dropping the official gameplay trailer for the hotly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto V, shares were already in the hundreds of thousands. A month later, the ad has been shared 544,802 times and anticipation continues to grow for the much-hyped game.

Finally, a more sobering take on violence, with Reprieve’s documentary spot at number 5. Featuring rapper Mos Def, the ad demonstrates standard force feeding procedure used atGuantanamo Bay. The results are incredibly tough to watch, but the video’s emotional heft means the message was shared 155,028 times last month.